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My name is Hilary and I will be teaching Senior Infants next year. I find Space fascinating and sometimes it is hard to imagine how dark space is. One interesting fact about Space is that you become taller in Space. Less gravity changes mean the spine straightens out as it is not pushing you down. You can be up to as much as 5cm taller in the Space! I think the structure of the DPSM/ESERO framework would be very useful for planning lessons for Junior/ Senior Infant classes. So much of our STEM learning is through play so the structure of the framework would ensure that any play is meaningful, planned and has a specific learning outcome. The format of the lessons was similar in some ways to the structure of Aistear in my classroom. In Aistear the children normally listen to a story on the topic, discuss the topic, plan before play in the groups, begin their activity and then report back on their play/ activity. I think this structure is very similar to engage and explore, investigate, take the next step, reflect. The Mighty Materials lesson and the lesson on Gravity are definitely ones I would use in my class. I liked the idea of a picture as a trigger. I would normally use a picture storybook to start a topic but the picture could trigger so many responses and questions. I liked the idea of the teacher having a store of materials on hand for various lessons. I would probably divide into groups for the investigation part of the lesson when we have discussed and brainstormed what we are trying to find out. My school have a large EAL population and many pupils in Junior Infants would have little or no English so I like the idea of reinforcing the vocabulary around the learning. I like using smiley faces on the investigation sheets. It means pupils of all abilities can report back. I think I would ask each group to have a reporter to orally report back too. I think this can reinforce the language and also gives the teacher another chance to assess understanding. I would do a follow up lesson on making a waterproof coat for a teddy to apply their learning.